ERKER

Gallery – Press – Publisher

27 February – 21 November 2021, Kunstmuseum

Erker-Galerie, run by Franz Larese (1927–2000) and Jürg Janett (1927–2016), exemplifies the development of St. Gallen into a cosmopolitan city in which European art history was made in the 1960s and 1970s. Exponents of modernism such as the Art Informel movement and mixed-media paintings were the basis of their work as gallerists, which culminated in pioneering exhibitions and a wealth of editions and books. The idea of creating dialogues between important writers and contemporary artists was extremely fruitful. The circle of leading artists and intellectuals associated with Erker-Galerie is legendary—from Heidegger (Martin Heidegger and Eduardo Chillida: Die Kunst und der Raum, 1969) to Laxness (Halldór Laxness and Asger Jorn: Die Geschichte vom teuren Brot, 1972) and Brodsky (Joseph Brodsky and Antoni Tàpies: Römische Elegien, 1993). The gallery, press, and publishing house formed a triumvirate that combined financial success with broad artistic impact and intellectual brilliance.